UKPSC Prelims 2024 General Studies Paper-I · Question 92 of 147

Correct — D, 42nd.

The International IP Index is an annual benchmark published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce through its Global Innovation Policy Center. Its 12th edition, released in February 2024, scored 55 economies on 50 indicators, and the overall table placed India 42nd with 38.64% of the available score.

That is the same slot India held in the 2023 edition. The idea to carry away: India sits in the low 40s of a 55-economy table, 42nd in 2024. The United States led the table at 95.48% and Venezuela closed it at 55th.

• (a)
  40th — 40th is India's placing on a different ranking: WIPO's Global Innovation Index 2023, which covered 132 economies and put India 40th, the same rank it held in 2022.

  The stem names the International IP Index, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 55-economy table, where India was 42nd.

• (b)
  43rd — In the 2024 table, 43rd is the slot immediately below India, held by Thailand at 38.28%. India's 38.64% put it one place higher.

  Ranks in this index follow the percentage score, so an economy a fraction of a point behind takes the next number down; 43rd was Thailand's number in 2024, not India's.

• (c)
  45th — 45th in the 2024 table belongs to South Africa, at 37.28%, three places below India, with Thailand (43rd) and Kenya (44th) in between.

  The stem asks for India's own rank, which was 42nd.

The International IP Index measures the strength of an economy's intellectual-property framework: the laws, enforcement and institutions that protect patents, copyrights, trademarks, designs and trade secrets. It is a legal-and-policy benchmark, expressed as a percentage of the available score, and it is not a measure of how much a country innovates.

The Global Innovation Index, by contrast, is WIPO's measure of innovation inputs and outputs across roughly 130 economies. Both mention intellectual property, but they rank different things over different samples, so India's number on each is different.

• The International IP Index is published annually by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation Policy Center; the 2024 report was its 12th edition.
• The 2024 edition benchmarked 55 economies on 50 indicators, with each economy's result expressed as a percentage of the available score.
• India ranked 42nd of 55 in 2024 with 38.64%, the same rank it held in the 2023 edition.
• The United States led the 2024 table at 95.48%, followed by the United Kingdom (94.12%) and France (93.12%); Venezuela was 55th at 14.10%.
• India's immediate neighbours in the 2024 table were Ukraine (41st, 40.30%) and Thailand (43rd, 38.28%).
• China placed 24th (57.86%) and Pakistan 52nd (27.42%) in the same 2024 table.
• WIPO's Global Innovation Index 2023 ranked India 40th of 132 economies, the figure that option (a) borrows.
• The 2024 report credited India for criminal sanctions on film piracy under the Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023 and for dynamic injunctions against online piracy.
• The report's stated concern for India was the 2021 dissolution of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board alongside an under-resourced judiciary.

• Reading 'Intellectual Property' in the stem and answering from WIPO's Global Innovation Index, where India stood 40th in 2023; that is option (a), not the index the stem names.
• Choosing a neighbouring number: 43rd and 45th are real slots in the same 2024 table, occupied by Thailand and South Africa.
• Expecting the rank to have moved year on year: India was 42nd in the 2023 edition and 42nd again in 2024.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The International IP Index, which ranked India 42nd in its 2024 edition, is published by which of the following?

  • (a)World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
  • (b)U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation Policy Center
  • (c)World Economic Forum
  • (d)United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
  Answerb — The index is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's product, prepared by its Global Innovation Policy Center.

  WIPO (a) publishes the Global Innovation Index, where India was 40th in 2023. The World Economic Forum (c) is known for the Global Competitiveness Report, and UNCTAD (d) for the World Investment Report.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which economy topped the 2024 International IP Index?

  • (a)United Kingdom
  • (b)United States
  • (c)France
  • (d)Germany
  Answerb — The United States led with 95.48% of the available score. The United Kingdom (a) was second at 94.12%, France (c) third at 93.12% and Germany (d) fourth at 92.46%.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  How many economies were benchmarked in the 2024 (12th) edition of the International IP Index?

  • (a)132
  • (b)55
  • (c)50
  • (d)190
  Answerb — 55 economies. 50 (c) is the number of indicators the index uses, not economies. 132 (a) is the number of economies in WIPO's Global Innovation Index 2023, and 190 (d) is the count covered by the World Bank's last Doing Business report (2020).
• practice — not a real PYQ

  With reference to India in the International IP Index 2024, consider the following statements: 1. India was ranked 42nd out of 55 economies. 2. India's overall score was 38.64% of the available score. 3. The index is compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  • (a)1 and 2 only
  • (b)2 and 3 only
  • (c)1 and 3 only
  • (d)1, 2 and 3
  Answera — Statements 1 and 2 reproduce the 2024 table: 42nd of 55, at 38.64%.

  Statement 3 is wrong because the index is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's, through its Global Innovation Policy Center; WIPO's ranking is the Global Innovation Index.

  Options (b), (c) and (d) each include statement 3 and so fail.